Snubbed?

Something and nothing? Difficult to say… according to the Sunday Express, attempts to recruit the likes of Sir Ben Kingsley, Dennis Hopper and Gary Oldman appear in Doctor Who have met with failure – but then these were never confirmed approaches, were they?

Allegedly, a host of stars have turned down the chance to appear as a fiendish baddie in the three specials due to be filmed next year and broadcast in 2009, although – says the Sunday Express – Billie Piper has been lined up for the one-off shows.

They also state that the 3 specials scheduled for the “gap year” are “expected to be Tennantâ€™s last as the Doctor”.

Which is news to us…

An insider close to the show said: “The BBC is looking for a top cast announcement. Sir Ian McKellen and David Thewlis have also been mentioned, but no one has yet been signed. They are starting to scrabble about for someone.”

So – is Doctor Who being snubbed? Is Russell T Davies and his team setting their sights too high?

Or is this all just rubbish, something to report on a weekend when – perhaps in the Sunday Express’ eyes – “there isn’t anything to report”?

How about treating the series with respect, and pay tribute to the late Verity Lambert?